Effect of Iron, Copper and Zinc metal ions on the antibacterial activity of crude extract of Aloe pulcherrima And Rumex abyssinicus leaves

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the crude leaf extracts of Aloe pulcherrima and Rumex abyssinicus in the absence and presence of iron, copper and zinc metal ions from their salts ZnSO4, FeSO 4 and CuSO 4 respectively with specific charges and fixed concentration on three bacterial species (E. coli, Bacillus and S. aureus). According to result basis the potency of chelated fractions showed averagely higher activity than that of unchelated fractions. Thus, the anti-bacterial activity of four solvent fractions was enhanced upon the addition of metal ions. Maximum ZOI (17 and 16.67 mm) was recorded in the case of Aloe pulcherrima for ethyl acetate extract up on of addition of zinc metal ion against gram positive bacteria (Bacillus and S. aureus) respectively; and for Rumex abyssinicus highest ZOI (15.33 mm) was recorded for ethyl acetate and methanol extract in the presence of Zn metal ion against S. aureus, which was done by agar disc diffusion method. This result was progressive as compared with the standard drug gentamycin (15.67 mm) and brought supportive information on the effect of metal ions on medicinal plants for future investigations. Also the phytochemical analysis and Uv-vis spectroscopic result showed the presence of secondary metabolites in both samples which were responsible for antibacterial activity.